Deval Patrick on Families & Children

Democrat

A child's future should not be defined by their zip code

there are children here in our own Commonwealth whose future is still defined by the zip code in which they were born. I was once one of those kids. And for all my many blessings I have not forgotten. I see the working poor struggling to keep their heads
above water. I see the middle class family one paycheck away from being poor. I see the person who has been out of work for a year and has lost not just her way but her self-confidence.
I see the parents working two and three jobs and sacrificing everything so their kids can go to a school that sometimes doesn't meet their needs. I see those people. And so do you. For too many of our neighbors, the American Dream is in trouble.
And, I refuse to accept that their Dream is out of reach. Government cannot deliver that all on its own, but government--we here in this chamber tonight--have a solemn duty to help all our people help themselves.

Parents wonder if their kids will do as well as them

We made choices inspired by our generational responsibility, our commitment to leave to others a better Commonwealth than we found. To the members of the Legislature: I know that some of the votes I have asked you to take were politically tough.

There are parents across our state who wonder tonight whether they will be able to do as well for their children as their parents did for them. There are workers, some unemployed for many months, who wonder tonight whether this new economy has a
place for them. There are small businesses and working families who now have the security of health insurance, but who wonder tonight whether they can manage the ever-increasing costs.
There are children tonight who wonder whether they will be safe when they step outside their own front door. We are not yet fulfilling our generational responsibility to them.